Sci-Fi Month: Movie #1

Dark City:  Director's Cut

I'll have to begin this review with a disclaimer:  I bloody love Dark City, Director's Cut or no Director's Cut.  It's not a situation like Blade Runner, where the original is nigh-unwatchable compared to the later Director's or Final cuts.

On the contrary.  What Dark City:  The Director's Cut did was make a great movie even BETTER, and frankly when I first saw this movie I didn't think that was possible.

I think this movie is colossally underrated, underestimated, and overlooked.  It had to struggle with opening against Titanic, and in the sci-fi genre it was overshadowed by the visually stunning, but ultimately shallow The Matrix.

Sci-Fi Month: TV Show #2

Firefly

You knew it was coming.

You knew because it's pretty much the sci-fi show of the hipster generation.

You knew because it was made by the ever-popular Joss Whedon, who has come to symbolize a kind of underdog artistic integrity in a wasteland of cookie cutter primetime TV.

You knew because...well...Firefly.

It's hard not to gush about this show, because there honestly has never been anything like it.  This was the first science fiction show that really felt like an honest portrayal of the average working-class group of people in space.

Sci-Fi Month: Movie #2

2001:  A Space Odyssey

Well, as I move into the final days of Sci-Fi Month, I can't help but include at least one really, really well-known title.

2001:  A Space Odyssey is referred to not just as one of the greatest sci-fi movies ever made, but as one of the greatest movies ever made, period.  But, it had its critics at the time of release, and it still has its critics now.  Like many of Kubrick's films, it's extremelly polarizing in critical and public opinion, and it's not hard to see why.

Sci-Fi Month: TV Show #3

Tin Man

I know, I know, it's another miniseries.  I wasn't actually going to include another miniseries on here after The Lost Room, and this spot was going to go to Space:  Above and Beyond.

Here's the thing though about Space:  Above and Beyond.
1)  It's not very good
2)  It was short-lived and not well circulated
3)  Battlestar Galactica (reimagined) was better

This may also be a signal that I won't be talking about Battlestar for the remainder of my list either.  Not because it's not GOOD (it certainly is), but because I don't think I can say anything about it that hasn't been said already.

I'm getting sidetracked.  What I really want to talk about is Tin Man.

Sci-Fi Month: Movie #3

Woops!  Fell off the blogging wagon for a couple of days there.  I plead the sickness.  Back to Sci-Fi Month!

The Rocketeer

The Rocketeer is, in my opinion, one of the most criminally underrated films in Hollywood history.  Not CRITICALLY.  Critics, in fact, quite liked this film, and the science fiction community did too.  Audiences, however, passed over it in favour of other blockbusters like Robin Hood:  Prince of Thieves.

The problem, I think, was one of timing.  The Rocketeer is all about nostalgia, a throwback to pulp cliches and 40's sci-fi action heroes like Flash Gordon or Buck Rogers.  Aaaand in 1991, not a lot of people were very interested in those kinds of heroes.  They were riding the high wave of prosperity, looking to a future of cyberpunk in films like Terminator 2 or the Matrix.  They were interested in modern heroes, tough female characters, and progressive ideas.

Sci-Fi Month: TV Show #4

Reboot

OK, this is the last time I cheat by including a kid's program.  Probably.

Reboot rarely seems to end up on "best of" lists, and I actually don't know why.  I suspect it's due in large part to a very, very troubled distribution history.  I think it goes something like this:

1)  Canadian program is hugely successful thanks to an original idea and (at the time) groundbreaking animation techniques
2)  American network picks it up, introducing the show to a large audience
3)  American network is bought out, and drops the show due to corporate nonsense (Thanks Disney!)
4)  Canadian production continues, and is eventually bought once more by Americans, but since there is a HUGE, three-year gap, nobody understands what is going on or cares.

Which is a terrible, terrible shame.  I know that Canadian audiences ate this show up, and I think Americans did too in the first year.  Reboot was the first fully computer-animated series, and though the earliest graphics are dated, they still have a bright, cartoonish flair to them.

Sci-Fi Month: Movie #4

Wall-E

OK, I'll own this right now and admit I'm probably (definitely) going too far on this one.  Wall-E is, after all, a family film first and a sci-fi film second.

But I feel compelled to include it in my list of favourites because I think that science-fiction has a place at the juvenile level as well.  Growing up, I read a lot of YA science fiction, like Alfred Slote or K.A. Applegate.  There's a great deal of imagination put into YA sci-fi, and a lot of it flows more freely because there's no preconceptions about content going in.

The same can be said of Pixar Animation films.  The pieces this studio puts out are some of the only films I consistently look forward to seeing. With Wall-E, the wonderful people at Pixar took their tried and true formula of short films sans dialogue and stretched it out to the feature-length mark.

Sci-Fi Month: TV Show #5

Futurama

What can be said about this series that hasn't been said already?  While overshadowed The Simpsons, Futurama remains a hilarious, nerdly love letter to science fiction tropes and cliches.

The jokes are brilliant.  The characters are hilarious and varied.  The music, art and direction are all top-notch.

But I think what really sets this show apart from anything else is the incredible attention paid to paying nerd homage to math, physics, and above all else the great stories that have come before.

Sci-Fi Month: Movie #5

If you're just joining my merry blog at this time, know that April 2012 has been declared SCi-FI MONTH!  This is to celebrate the impending arrival of George Takei at the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, which will be, very simply, a night to remember.

For Sci-Fi Month, I've been compiling a "top ten" list of some of my favourite Sci-Fi TV shows and movies.  Here's a handy-dandy list to recap the first two weeks:

Top 10 Sci-Fi Movies

10.  Metropolis
9.  A Scanner Darkly
8.  Silent Running
7.  THX-1138
6.  The Mysterious Geographic Explorations of Jasper Morello

Top 10 Sci-Fi TV Shows

10.  The Secret Adventures of Jules Verne
9.  Red Dwarf
8.  Babylon 5
7.  The Lost Room
6.  Jeremiah

Without further ado, it's on to Movie #5:

Sci-Fi Month: TV Show #6

Jeremiah

J. Michael Straczynski of Babylon 5 ends up in my good books once again with a far darker series, the post-apocalyptic Jeremiah.

Jeremiah follows...well...Jeremiah (Luke Perry of 90120 fame), a roughly thirty-something year old man who has grown up in a world ravaged by the "Big Death", a mysterious, possibly human-engineered disease that fifteen years ago eradicated all people "over the age of innocence" (above puberty).  Jeremiah is searching for his father, whom he is convinced is alive, recalling a memory where the words "Valhalla Sector" are spoken.  During his travels, Jeremiah runs into Kurdy (Malcolm-Jamal Warner), another loner, and together the two of them team up and discover abandoned military complexes, religious cults and neo-nazis, all while trying to ease the ills of a world beset by starvation, ignorance and paranoia.

Sci-Fi Month: Movie #6

The Mysterious Geographic Explorations of Jasper Morello

Yesterday I cheated a bit by including a miniseries on my list of great sci-fi TV shows.  Today I'm cheating a bit by including a short film on my list of great sci-fi movies.

I'm okay with this exception for two reasons:  1)  a list of great sci-fi short movies would not only be incredibly hard to curate for the average individual, but also very brief  2)  this movie is bloody incredible.

I only became aware of The Mysterious Geographic Explorations of Jasper Morello after it was nominated for Best Animated Short Film at the 2006 Academy Awards.  I'm retroactively appalled that it lost, particularly given the absolute braindead winner, The Moon and the Son:  An Imagined Conversation (yes, I've watched in its entirety).  My retroactive watching of the nominees only reinforces my opinion that the voting system of the Academy Awards is completely broken.

Sorry.  I've been sidetracked by my intense hatred of Hollywood incest.  Back to the movie.

Sci-Fi Month: TV Show #7

The Lost Room

Everyone, literally everyone, sci-fi fans and sci-fi haters alike, has had the same reaction when I have played this show for them:

"Can we watch the next episode?  Like, right now?"

The Lost Room centres on a group of Objects (capital O) that were all at one point in a motel room just outside of Gallup, New Mexico.  This motel room somehow vanished inexplicably, and, according to the manager, "never existed."  The Objects, however, not only continue to exist, but they now exhibit strange properties.  Not all of these are inherently useful:  the Umbrella makes people think they know you, the Clock sublimates brass, the Watch Box inhibits entropy...the list goes on.  As people acquire the Objects, their lives are changed irrevocably, and often not for the better.  Above all, there is the Key, which can open any tumbler lock, transporting the user to the titular Lost Room:  #9 at the Sunshine Motel.

Sci-Fi Month: Movie #7

THX-1138

George Lucas' directorial debut, expanded from an award-winning student film, THX-1138 is a grim, cheerless film.  That may be part of the reason why it was so commercially unsuccessful, even after a re-release on the heels of the tidal wave of Star Wars.  This movie is certainly not what people think of when they think of Lucas.  It is a lot of black and white where movies like American Graffiti or Star Wars are steeped in colour.  It is sombre and understated, especially in the audio department, where later on John Williams would overwhelm us with symphonic splendour.

Yet this movie is undeniably an achievement, and showcases Lucas' trademark ability to convincingly shape a futuristic environment with dazzling visuals.  The story itself is fairly basic and other critics have pointed out that is is a mere regurgitation of more infamous sci-fi writers, but it is worth retelling.  In a nutshell, humanity has become so consumed with efficiency and productivity that they now inhibit their emotions and sexual desires through the use of a carefully monitored drug intake.

Sci-Fi Month: TV Show #8

Babylon 5

Babylon 5 had the misfortune of going toe-to-toe with Star Trek:  Deep Space Nine.  I say "misfortune" because to insinuate that Paramount in any way ripped off J. Michael Straczynski 's concept which they had earlier passed on, only to air their DS9 pilot just weeks before Babylon 5's debut, is to bring up a flame war that needs no further vocalization.  Only the Paramount Executives know the truth of the matter, and it's unlikely we'll ever know for sure.

At any rate, this...coincidence in timing...had the unfortunate side effect of directly syphoning a lot of attention away from this rather complex show about a diplomatic station and its crew.  It's a shame, really, because Babylon 5 boasted characters of great depth and storylines of political intrigue that had never really been explored through the lens of science fiction in a serialized TV format.

Sci-Fi Month: Movie #8

Silent Running

On the surface, Silent Running looks like a simple environmental film, but past that basic exterior lies a thought-provoking meditation on the solitary nature of life in space.

The visuals and special effects of the movie are consistent with director Douglas Turnbull's previous work on 2001: A Space Odyssey and it's clear he carried on pioneering that field with Close Encounters of the Third Kind and Blade Runner.  In truth, though, the script is fairly simplistic and the message of "go green" is so belaboured to death that you'll want to knee a tree-hugger in the groin out of spite by the end of it.

What saves Silent Running from being Ferngully in space is the performance of Bruce Dern as Lowell, the botanist of the colossal space freighter "Valley Forge".  The Valley Forge is part of a project intended to preserve the last remaining living specimens of Earth's plant life, which have been devastated by industrialization and overpopulation.  Lowell is an idealist, convinced that the work he is doing will be appreciated and his research will be put into good use in the future.  However, he is tragically proven wrong when the company that owns The Valley Forge orders Lowell and his three fellow crew members to destroy the forest domes with nuclear warheads.  Lowell rebels, murdering the crew and fleeing with one dome intact under a false pretence of malfunctioning equipment.

Sci-Fi Month: TV shows #9

Red Dwarf

Its easy to see why this show has such a lasting appeal.  Where Star Trek, and shows like Star Trek, are populated by the absolute best and brightest of humanity, the pinnacle of intellectual and physical prowess...

...Red Dwarf shows us the rest of humanity.

The slobs, the failures, the neurotics, the morons.  Red Dwarf celebrates the losers of Star Trek and other idealized sci-fi exploration shows like Lost in Space or Seaquest.  It's the perfect mirror to parody science fiction norms.  We don't hear about Janitor Joe Bob on the Starship Enterprise, but this show points out that he was always there, in the background, and he couldn't give two smegs about the prime directive or the final frontier.

Sci-Fi Month: Movie #9

A Scanner Darkly

I rather expect some people will be left scratching their heads over this choice, but Richard Linklater's adaptation of Philip K. Dick's cautionary tale on drug abuse in a near-future sci-fi setting has stuck with me to this day.

There's two major reasons for my enjoyment of this film.  Firstly, it is the most faithful adaptation of a Philip K. Dick story I have ever seen, and that includes ALL of these movies:
-  Minority Report
-  Paycheck
-  Blade Runner
-  Screamers
-  Total Recall

These movies naturally vary in quality, but not a one of them scarcely resembles the source material.  Linklater remamined incredibly devoted to the story, keeping in portions that I thought would never translate to the big screen and succeeding beautifully.  This is not to say that I think slavish devotion is key to successful movie adaptation; my previous post "Ruminations on Adaptation" expands on this.  I'm more impressed at how well Linklater communicates the concepts, the settings, and especially the characters.  When I initially heard this was going to be a movie, I thought it would never work.  Linklater proved me wrong.

Sci-Fi Month: TV shows #10

The Secret Adventures of Jules Verne

I said before that some shows on this list would be new to most people, and I'm sure that this will be one of those occasions.

The Secret Adventures of Jules Verne was a very short-lived steampunk series that ran initially on CBC in Canada and Sci-Fi Network in the US.  It posited that Jules Verne's stories were not mere fiction, but were actual adventures that he embarked on in the company of Phileas Fogg (gentleman explorer from Verne's Around the World in Eighty Days), Fogg's servant Passepartout, and Fogg's cousin Rebecca, a spy for the British government.  Together the four of them travel in Fogg's magnificent airship, the Aurora, to battle mysterious forces and explore strange happenings.

Sci-Fi Month: Movie #10

Hello readers!

For the month of April I thought I'd try something different.  It just so happens that the Toronto Symphony Orchestra will be performing a concert at the beginning of May called the "Sci-Fi Spectacular", which will feature guest host George Takei in all his glory.  As a lead-up to this nergasm of epic proportions, I thought I'd throw my hat into the ring of "best of" lists and do a top 10 of Sci-fi TV shows and a top 10 of Sci-fi movies.

There really is no criteria for these lists.  It's all down to my personal opinion.  However, I am going to try to throw in some things that you don't often see on major top 10 lists, to keep it fresh.

So, without further ado, it's on to the #10 Greatest Science Fiction Film: